Revenge 4×20 – Burn

For the second week in a row, this felt like a series finale.

So that’s it? Is Victoria Grayson really dead? I was sure that Vicky faked her own murder (and framed Amanda in the process), but Madeleine Stowe’s recent interviews make it seem like she really is dead. I have no idea if this is an elaborate con by Stowe to ensure her surprise return shocks us in the (series?) finale, but it sure seems like this was a legit development. Sadly it was spoiled for me on Twitter (thanks a lot social media), so although it wasn’t a shocking turn, that final sequence was still expertly done. Everything from Mason’s chilling monologue detailing Emily and the destruction she’s caused, to Vicky taking her seat on her throne and blowing Grayson Manor to pieces was absolutely incredible. If this was indeed Queen Victoria’s final hour, it was a satisfying conclusion to her tumultuous journey. I just wish they’d kept it until the finale. Where can we possibly go from here?

The rest of the episode was sadly pretty disastrous. David Clarke has lymphoma now? Seriously? After building the show on the foundation of Emily avenging her father’s demise, only to flip that premise over its head in horrible fashion, the writers AGAIN changed their minds and now want Emily to watch David die a slow, sick death. There has to be a method to the madness, and all of this makes zero sense.

Also horrendous: Jack suddenly leaving town. To call this subplot rushed would probably be the understatement of the century, and watching Emily run to the airport (in the vein of a cheesy romantic comedy) was an even more embarrassing turn of events. I’ve never seen an endgame couple with this little chemistry. What a pity.

Vengeful Bits

– So if it wasn’t Emily, who attacked Victoria in the parking garage?

– Very touching scene with Nolan telling Emily he doesn’t want to lose her and her reassuring him that he won’t.

– The only bright spot in David’s storyline was his bonding with Stevie (after she rightfully called him an ass).

– So was Victoria acting paranoid during Emily’s whole fireman plot? She’s never THAT scared. It all felt orchestrated to me.

– Louise sure turned unlikeable pretty fast. The way she embarrassed Nolan and Tony at the charity foundation was evil.

– Love that Vicky went to great lengths to retrieve her iconic chair. That piece of furniture has more charisma than Jack, Margaux and Ben combined.

– Ben overhearing Emily saying she doesn’t deserve Jack should have been gut-wrenching, but that would have required some actual acting on his part.

– Margaux and Louise together. Seriously? Even after the latter tried to KILL the former? I don’t buy it. Even if they acknowledged it. Nope, sorry.

– The way the camera zoomed out on to the Grayson Manor patio before everything imploded was just stunning.

Devious Delights

Margaux: You tried to kill me, you lunatic.
Louise: Okay, whatever did or did not happen was due to the fact that my family was drugging me.

Doctor: And watch your step. That was a nasty fall you took.
Victoria: Well, that seems to be a recurring theme for me these days, doctor.

Emily: (to Nolan) You know, sometimes, I’m so focused on the fight, I don’t see what’s right in front of me.

Nolan: It’s a smart move on her part… No chance for us to intercept them, and she knows that we don’t have enough time to pull off an “Emily’s Eleven” and break into the suite.

Stevie: (to David) I wouldn’t worry about it too much. You have the toughest kid on the block.

Emily: It’s over. What is?
David: Everything…
Emily: This whole damn war.

Nolan: Louise, you’re in over your head, and you picked the wrong side. Oh, um, and while you were trying to record a confession on your phone right now, I was running an app that reset it to factory settings. Like I said… You, head, over.

Victoria: I trust you were able to get what I was asking for?
Seller: Yes, ma’am. She was definitely of a mind-set to sell, too.
Victoria: Well, of course she was. It lost its appeal due to Emily’s televised assassination.
Seller: You mind me asking why getting this was so important to you?
Victoria: It’s a memento… Of a bygone era.

Seller: Mrs. Grayson, what do you plan to do?
Victoria: Something Amanda Clarke never had the courage to do herself… End this.

Jack: (to Nolan) I’m asking you as a friend… Don’t ever tell me that she loves me again.

Nolan: Well, after the destruction caused by Hurricane Louise, I… I didn’t think I’d be seeing you again ever.

Mason: Imagine my surprise when I caught your heartfelt performance, announcing to all the world that very same story… My story.
Emily: I had no choice. Everything changed.
Mason: Yes, everything but you. Which I suppose is just now starting to become apparent, standing there alone on the tarmac, realizing that while you hid behind your mission of revenge, everyone else around you evolved. Did you really think they’d wait forever, sacrificing everything and getting nothing in return? Did you honestly believe that you’d get your “happily ever after” after so many lies to so many different people… Until all you had left were enemies? Like the little pyromaniac that you are, you started a fire and convinced yourself that you could contain it. But I know your dirty little secret. You can’t exist without revenge. The endless cycle of hate, it’s your addiction. And like all tales of compulsion, this will end the same way. First you will crash… and then you will burn.

Conclusion
This should have been a pivotal and momentous hour of Revenge. Sadly, it almost crumbled under its own weight. Thank God for that final scene.

Nad Rating
B